Perfect
by ALilyPadForever
Summary: Because hiring a fake girlfriend, making Lucy jealous, and letting her confess to him was way easier than actually confessing to her... right?


Lucy was having a perfect day. No pink idiot on her bed, nothing on fire, and no fridge raids. She wondered if it was bad that she was missing him.

_Nah._ She thought. _Its not a bad thing to miss my best friend._

She hummed a song she didn't know as she walked along, perfectly at peace. Until _she_ came along.

"Erm…. Hello?" A pretty purple haired girl tapped on Lucy's shoulder.

"Yes?" Lucy wondered if she was new to Magnolia.

"I was wondering whether you would show me the way to the Fairy Tail guild?" She asked politely.

"Sure! I was about to head over there anyways."

The girl gave her a grateful look.

"I don't mean to be pry, but… are you visiting a family member or a friend at the guild?" Lucy inquired.

"Oh, no." She giggled. "A boyfriend."

"Really? Who?"

Her smile faltered for just a split second before being replaced by a light laugh.

"Oh, I don't know if you know him or not. Natsu Dragneel?"

Lucy blinked once. Then twice. She couldn't explain the feeling that arose within her. A feeling like being scooped out like a pumpkin.

"He has pink hair, I know, rather odd, and- Are you alright?" The girl asked.

"It's salmon." Lucy snapped. She didn't know why she was being so defensive about his hair color; she had thought about the very same thing. Not that she thought about his hair a lot.

The girl stared at her, surprised. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek. Should she tell her where the guild was? _Bad Lucy, _she mentally scolded herself. _You should be happy for your best friend._ Except she wasn't.

The blonde sighed. She eyed the girl standing in front of her.

"The guild is right over there, so… I'm sorry, I think I have to go back home."

"Oh! Okay, thank you for bringing me here, Ms…."

"Lucy. Pleased to meet you." She forced a smile that felt awkward on her face.

"Liz. I'm sorry to bother you." Liz waved goodbye as she walked away. Lucy watched her go with silent despair.

_Coward_, her own mind tormented her.

_It was unexpected. _She defended herself.

_So you're going to run away._ Lucy couldn't push these thoughts out of her head.

_Shut up. _She walked back towards her apartment.

Natsu paced the guild floor nervously. He was waiting for Lucy to get here so he could tell her something important.

"Hey, dipshit." Gray strolled over to where the fire mage was. Natsu glanced at him and scowled.

"What, asswipe?"

"You waiting for a monster to come through those doors or what?"

"No. Go away." Natsu mumbled, distracted. Gray's eyebrows rose.

"Whoa. Guys, I think Natsu's sick. He didn't pick a fight that he was going to lose." He called out to the guild. The guild's attention went to the pair. Erza, ever the voice of discipline, nodded approvingly.

"Good. He's growing up. No more nonsense fights." Erza said.

Natsu frowned. He liked fights. "I didn't mean that. I like fighting." He looked up, only to freeze in terror.

"No, Natsu. Fights and brawls in the guild are _bad_. _Friends_ don't fight." She cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Got that?"

Natsu quickly nodded, unable to speak.

Liz paused at the huge wooden doors. She heard a great deal of ruckus going on inside. As a naturally timid person, she didn't want to go any nearer. However, she had to. So, Liz pushed one door, just enough for a crack in which she could fit through. Never in her life had she seen such a rowdy crowd. Furniture was being thrown, many people were drunk, and there were loud arguments that led to punching. Spotting the pink-haired boy, she carefully made her way over to him. He didn't notice as he was in the middle of a heated debate with a tall, black-haired man. The man noticed her, however, and gave pinky one last glare before moving away to sit with a petite, blue-haired girl who was reading a long novel.

"Oh. Hey, Spaz." Natsu looked down at Liz.

"It's Liz." She hissed.

He scratched his head. "Right. I knew it ended with a 'z'."

She gave him a little nudge. "So? Where's the girl?"

Natsu sighed. "She's not here yet. It's weird for her to be this late. Then again, she's pretty weird."

"Should I wait, or…?"

"Yeah, just wait a bit. I don't know what's keeping her."

Liz was intrigued about this mysterious girl. "What does she look like?"

"She's blonde, and she has pretty brown eyes. Her name is Lucy."

Liz gaped at him.

Lucy was underneath her covers. All the lights in her room were off, but she was very much awake. For one thing, she couldn't sleep because her brain was on haywire, like it just had 10 cups of coffee. She couldn't help but feel very betrayed. After all they had been through together, he still chose another girl?

Lucy admitted that nothing would be solved even if she hid under her covers for a decade. Slowly getting up, she decided to go to the guild and face her new problem head on.

_It's not a problem. Not for them, anyways._ She thought bitterly. Oh Mavis, was she going to be one of those people who hated every couple and despised other people's happiness? No, no way. Before she could stop herself and wallow in the pits of jealousy, she ran out the door.

Lucy had to stop at the guild's front entrance.

_Don't cry. Congratulate them. Or, at least, refrain from punching someone in the face._ Taking a deep breath, she pushed aside the door and walked inside. Her guildmates greeted her, all except one. A fire dragonslayer who was talking with Liz. Her heart sank. Instead of greeting her best friend, she sat with Levy.

Levy looked up from her book. "Lu-chan, what's wrong?"

Not lifting her head up from the table, she pointed at the couple.

"Oh." Levy whispered. "Are you going to be okay?" Lucy was grateful that she understood immediately.

"Yes. No. I don't know!" She cried.

Much to Lucy's dismay, Natsu walked over. With his new girlfriend, Liz.

"Hey Luce!" He swung an arm over her shoulders nonchalantly. Lucy pushed his arm away.

"Y-you can't do that."

Natsu looked at her with confusion. "Why not?"

"Because! You have a girlfriend now." She gestured to Liz. "So you can't act like this with other girls."

"Oh." He frowned.

"And… I'll just have to…. deal with that." Lucy bit her lip, and stared down at the table. Levy watched her friend sadly.

"Well, this wasn't supposed to happen." Natsu huffed. "You're not making this any easier for me, Luce."

"_What_? I backed off! What more could you possibly-"

"I thought you would be jealous! Ice prick said that making you jealous would work!" He fumed.

"You _wanted_ to make me jealous?! Why?! Natsu, you are the most insensitive, dense-"

"Excuse me." Liz said calmly. "I think it would be better if I cleared everything up."

The group quieted.

"Yesterday, in town, Mr. Dragneel asked me to help him with an issue. He asked me to be his fake girlfriend so he could get the girl he liked to notice. Seemed like quite a bad plan to me, but-"

"Hey!" Natsu complained.

"But he was desperate, so I agreed. I didn't know where the guild was, so I'm afraid I got lost, when Ms. Lucy showed up."

"I was not desperate!" He turned to Lucy, and said proudly, "What do you say to that?"

She gave him incredulous look. "Did you just confess to me?"

"Duh. I like you, Luce."

Lucy felt the need to Lucy Kick him into a brick wall. "You hopeless idiot! You'd think, after all this, you would at least confess properly! What's with that half-assed 'I like you, Luce.'?! I like you too, you stupid hothead!"

Natsu laughed. "I love you, Lucy. How's that?"

She huffed. "Perfect."


End file.
